Exporting your data

Settings → Export produces one zip with everything in your workspace: your records as CSV spreadsheets and your documents as PDFs. Only owners see the Export tab and can request an export.

Request an export

1. Go to Settings → Export.

2. Click Request export.

3. Wait for the email from Billow saying your export is ready.

4. Go back to Settings → Export and click Download.

After you click Request export, Billow confirms with “Export started. We will email you when it is ready.” The page shows “Preparing your export…” while Billow builds the zip. This usually takes a few minutes, and you can leave the page in the meantime.

What the zip contains

Spreadsheets, one CSV per record type, which you can join by their ID columns:

• invoices.csv

• offers.csv

• projects.csv

• clients.csv (your accounts)

• contacts.csv

• deliverables.csv

Documents:

• PDFs of every invoice you’ve sent

• PDFs of every offer that reached a client, plus its contract when the offer includes one

• The original files of any invoices you imported from PDFs or images

For an invoice imported from a PDF or image, the zip holds the file exactly as you uploaded it.

Records without a PDF

• Drafts appear in the CSVs but get no PDF.

• An offer whose project ended up rejected or cancelled gets no PDF either.

• Invoices imported from a CSV file appear in the CSVs but get no document.

How long an export stays available

Once your export is ready, Settings → Export shows “Available until [date].” Billow deletes the zip 7 days after it’s ready. Request a new one whenever you need it.

The download only works while you’re signed in as an owner of the workspace, so you can’t forward the link to someone else.

One export at a time

A workspace has one export at a time. While one is being prepared, you can’t request another, and Billow shows “An export is already being prepared.”

Once an export is ready, the page offers Request a new export next to Download. When the new export finishes, it replaces the previous one. While the new export is being prepared, the page no longer shows the previous one’s Download button, so download it first if you still need it.

If an export fails

If something goes wrong, Settings → Export shows “Something went wrong preparing your last export. Request a new one to try again.” Click Request export to start again.

Exporting in read-only mode

Export stays available in read-only mode, so a lapsed subscription doesn’t stop you from taking your data with you.

Request an export before you cancel your subscription or delete your workspace.